Those who struggle with substance use disorders can often find that they also face difficulties with other aspects of their lives, such as their mental health. To overcome addiction, it’s important to address mental health issues as well. If you struggle with anger, anger management therapy can be a helpful resource.
An anger management program in California can help you overcome stressful, unhealthy obstacles in your life. You can call Virtues Behavioral Health at 855.579.8599 to learn more about the addiction treatment programs we offer.
Tackling Challenging Emotions Through Anger Management
Anger is a natural and normal feeling to experience. That doesn’t mean that excessive or near-constant anger is healthy, though. Instead, there’s a distinct difference between healthy anger and the kind of anger that can ruin your life.
Anger that feels consistent, out of proportion with your circumstances, and hair-trigger tends to be unhealthy. This same anger can beget inappropriate violence—violence that may damage your relationships with your loved ones.
Anger and Substance Use Disorders
Some parties who suffer from excessive or inappropriate anger turn to substance use to find a solution. Certain depressants, for example, can curb a person’s feeling of anger. Uppers, too, can improve a person’s mood by artificially stimulating their brains’ release of dopamine and serotonin.
Unfortunately, these substances can also change the way a person’s brain works. Overuse of these substances can make it difficult, if not impossible, for a person’s brain to generate the neurotransmitters that are essential to mood control. Combine this neurological shift with the impacts of withdrawal, and the people who seek out certain substances to curb their anger may find their moods more uncontrollable than ever.
When to Seek Out Anger Management Treatment
You can seek treatment for a substance use disorder before realizing that you may benefit from anger management therapy. In reality, the two treatments often go hand in hand. You’ll know that it’s time to seek out anger management treatment if you find yourself experiencing:
- Uncontrolled emotional outbursts
- Distant relationships with your family and loved ones
- Violent urges towards others
- Violent urges towards yourself
- Feelings of near-constant irritation, self-deprecation, self-hatred, and misanthropy
If you’re not sure whether or not anger management treatments are right for you, you can request a mental health consultation with an expert in your area. So long as you’re open to self-improvement, these consultations can help you understand why you feel the way you do and what coping mechanisms may help you recover.
Strategies Used in Anger Management Therapy
Each person suffering from uncontrolled anger will benefit from their own array of coping mechanisms. That said, some of the most common methods used to help patients contend with anger while recovering from a substance use disorder include:
Exercise
Exercise serves two beneficial purposes throughout your recovery. To begin, it fills your body with endorphins. These endorphins improve your mood and make you feel more energized. What’s more, exercise improves your overall health. When you’re capable of doing more (in terms of strength or endurance), you tend to feel better about yourself. Loving yourself is essential to your recovery process, meaning that exercise can make your goals a little easier to achieve.
Deep Breathing
Deep breathing exercises may seem contrite, but they’re more effective than they initially seem. When you focus on your breath, you cut out any and all sources of irritation in your life. Deep breathing exercises can help you center on yourself and keep yourself from overreacting to a triggering situation. In turn, you can address the trigger that’s made you so angry and address it with a cooler head.
Long-Term Anger Management Therapy
Neither anger nor substance use disorders go away overnight. If you’ve been contending with uncontrollable anger for years, then you may need to speak with a professional about your feelings over the course of several months. As you develop a long-term relationship with a mental health professional, you can get to the heart of your anger and work out healthy ways to address it.
Virtues Behavioral Health’s Anger Management Program in California
Anger can feel like an all-encompassing force in your life. Substance use disorders can exacerbate that feeling, leaving you trapped in cycles of irritation and violence. However, you do not have to live a life that’s defined by your anger.
Instead, you can call Virtues Behavioral Health at 855.579.8599. We can not only help you address your substance use disorder, but we can also help you conquer your anger. Together with our on-site professionals, you can address the source of your anger and cultivate coping mechanisms designed to help you live a healthier life.
